The Wolf's Dog
by IneffableBlue
Summary: What would happen if Kagome had never chanced upon Inuyasha pinned to his tree? What if instead, she had bumped into Kouga? And he decided to keep her? What if? ABANDONED
1. Capture

The Wolf's Dog

Summary: What would happen if Kagome had never chanced upon Inuyasha pinned to his tree? What if instead, she had bumped into Koga? And he decided to keep her? What if?

Hi guys, if anybody is even reading this! I thought that I would give this a shot because the plot bunnies have been jumping around all evening to be released. *stares at fluffy bunnies* Anyways…enjoy your not so inukag first chapter! (I promise there will be more later~)

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha then they would have freaking kissed in the actual series, not just once in The Final Act... So yeah, I don't own Inuyasha.

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Kagome glared at her handsome captor as he offered her the clothes. (What the heck were they made of anyways…it looked kinda like wolf skins?)

"What? You can't wear that filthy, ragged _thing_ forever can you?" Koga said as he glanced down at her torn school uniform that showed a bit more than she would have liked. She noticed how his eyes glanced approvingly at her…*cough cough* assets. Kagome blushed and grabbed the…skins? clothes? and shuffled awkwardly to the screened area to change. She slipped her clothes off, but left her bra and underwear on. Koga probably wouldn't have thought to giver here those. She was right.

The wolf clothes were stiff and cold at first, but she shivered in her short fluffy skirt and shirt until they warmed up and loosened out. Cautiously, Kagome withdrew from the corner of the cave to face the wolf leader.

"Kagome! That looks really good on you!" Koga walked amiably over to where Kagome huddled against the wall.

"Really?" She asked shyly, having never been complimented by a boy before, she didn't really know how to act.

"Yeah…" Koga smiled dreamily as he looked at her long legs. _Geez! He's such a perverted wolf!_ Kagome thought as she waved a hand in front of his eyes. How had she met him anyways? Oh yeah…the well…her family…darn. She had to go back.

* * *

_ "Buyo! Buyo! Where are you! Are you in here Buyo? I'll find you!" Kagome called out to her cat as she wandered in the general direction of the shrine. The shrine she had been told never to enter. But if Buyo was in there…. Kagome cautiously slid the doors to the sides and peered into the musty old shrine, which probably hadn't been even touched for years._

_ "Buyo, are you in there?" Kagome called again. She softly stepped forwards and eased her weight onto the creaky wooden floor boards. A soft rustling could be heard from the well in the center of the shrine._

_ "Buyo?" Kagome crept closer to the well, floorboards creaking under her school shoes. She looked over the rim of the well, but nothing was there. Suddenly, hands flew from the well to grasp and rip at her clothes and pull her in._

_ "Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" She screamed as her body plummeted through cold air and into…what? She floated in glowing purple and blue…space? In front of her was a hideous woman. With a gaunt, starved face and what seemed to be at least twenty arms floating around her, some of them latched onto her clothes and body. The woman had a long centipede-like body that from her torso down, actually looked like a giant centipede. The demon-woman licked her lips in anticipation._

_ "Ahhh, the Sacred Jewel! I can feel the power already!" The demon-woman hissed, another arm reaching out to flick the base of Kagome's neck, where a purple light suddenly flared up. "More power! With this I can remake myself and escape this weak form!"_

_ The gaunt demon launched herself at Kagome, pulling her body along with strong, lean arms. One had plunged toward the source of the purple glow around Kagome, the base of her neck. However, as the woman made contact with Kagome, the purple light flared up sharply until it was blinding, and the demon gasped. The hand closest to the light disintegrated completely, leaving not even dust behind. The demon-woman tried franticly to run away from the growing light, but she was far too slow and was consumed by the purple._

_ Kagome collapsed, not even noticing as she was gently lowered into the bottom of the shrine's well once again. She slept for hours before being woken by rough voices._

_ "Hey woman! What are ya doing in that well?" One such voice yelled down at her. She groggily opened her eyes and stared around her. The walls of the well were made of dirt, with a square of blue sky above her, three faces obscuring part of the beautiful baby blue sky with no clouds in her tiny square. Kagome clambered to her feet and brushed dirt off of her skirt and shirt, both ruined with tears and mud. Then she realized that she couldn't possibly be in the shrine well at home, for it was under a roof and had wooden sides. She couldn't respond to the men above her, she panicked. She wanted home so badly it hurt. To find poor Buyo…who was probably feeling so lost right now unless __Souta, her little brother, had found him._

_ "Woman! We're getting you out!" One of the men who looked more in charge yelled. A rope was lowered down to the anxious Kagome, who grabbed it and let the men hoist her up._

_ "Eh boss! She's quite the looker! But what the hell is she wearing?" The guy with the Mohawk asked the guy with the ponytail, who was apparently their boss._

_ "Some weird outfit she got on!" The one with the fluffy gray hair commented._

_ "Whatever! She still got the looks, and we could use someone like her. You know that we haven't had _any_ women recently. And we could just feed her to the wolves after we're done with her right?" The leader, ponytail guy, asked._

_ "Yeah! Good idea Koga!" The strange hairdo guys cheered. Koga just looked smug as he wound the rope around surprised Kagome's hands and led her off into the forest. "This way my new little doll! I hope you enjoy your stay with us!"_


	2. Inuyasha

Hi guys! I'm back with a new chappie! Lots of thanks for those who actually read and reviewed! Extra thanks to Lady takahashiblu for being my first and so far only reviewer! (Lauren (crayzedfangurllll) you don't count cause you've never even watched InuYasha) This chapter is mostly flashback again but it's needed for the plot, I promise.

This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful crayzedfangurllll who is reading this just because she's my friend and hasn't even watched the anime, and Lady takahashibu of course for being my fabulous first reviewer.

Anyways…I don't own InuYasha blah blah blah… Speaking of Inuyasha…YOU GET TO MEET HIM IN THIS CHAPPIE! Yup ^.^ he's now officially a character.

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The Wolf's Dog

Inuyasha

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Key

*(insert name)* = POV change

_Italics_ = thoughts or flashback

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*Kagome*

Two months after being found in the well, (and never finding out how she managed to travel back into Feudal Japan) Kagome was happy living with Koga and the wolf demons. They actually hadn't done anything perverted to her, other than stare. There was one bump that just didn't seem to fade with time though, and that was Kagome's family.

She wanted desperately to see her family again, fat and squishy Buyo, innocent yet devilish Souta, always pulling pranks, her beautiful and caring mom, and her slightly insane yet loved grandfather. Kouga wouldn't let her go back until she was 'sure she was going to come back' for some reason. As _if_ she would ever want to come back to this slightly hellish, rough land filled with many different demons and strange people. Japan's history was _very_ different than what they taught in school, with the demons and such. But also the people's lifestyles were completely different. For one, they weren't afraid of these 'hideous' demons that were supposed to kill and maim without thought. Even when you got a textbook or just book that talked about demons and such in history, they were always the cruel and feared overlords, controlling cowering, cowardly, pitiful humans. In reality, people lived quite in harmony with these creatures, but almost never came into contact with one. Also, they were very civilized and, thankfully, didn't smell because of the wonderful invention of bathing. But Kagome was a city girl and didn't appreciate sleeping on hard rock in a damp cave every night. She bore with it and managed to be relatively comfortable, but still missed her soft, fluffy pink bed.

Her wolf-demon tribe was going out of its way to be nice to her and give her every little thing she desired. Even when she rejected a gift, it found its way into her belongings somehow. Kouga especially loved to give her beautiful flowers he had found in the forest on his many expeditions. It was hard not for her to love the rough speaking but gentle wolf-demons. Today though, Kagome had been in a particularly bad mood, sparking an argument with Kouga that ended in her sprinting out of the spacious cave into the bright new day.

Light blinded her as she ventured out of the cave for the first time after she had been captured. Lush emerald grass rustled on rolling hills leading down into a dark mysterious forest with draping vines and tall, shifting jade trees. Kagome didn't even stop to think about anything, she just hurtled down the hill she was currently standing on and into the deep, dark forest.

"_Where are you taking me?" Kagome screamed at her rough, strange captors through a broken and hoarse throat. She had been asking the same question over and over for hours, until she resorted to screaming. Her head hung in defeat as her rope bound hands dragged her forever onward towards an unknown destination. The ponytail guy, Kouga, jerked roughly on her red, raw wrists._

_ "We're almost there woman. What's your name?" He asked, in a somewhat haughty tone. Kagome looked up at him, surprised that he actually had the decency to ask of her name._

_ "I-it's Kagome," she stuttered past the roughness of her throat._

_ "We'll get you some honey to fix your voice once we get home." Kagome dumbly nodded and dared to raise her head a fraction of an inch. Kouga was smirking cockily at her in a way that made her slightly sick, her stomach a roiling mass of luminescent poisonous snakes. She inexplicably wanted to get as far away from him as she could in that one moment. The smirk was quickly replaced by a concerned expression as she staggered, clutching her disobedient turning stomach._

_ "Are you okay?" Concern was evident in his voice as she clutched at a tree to keep from falling, and slowly uncoiled herself as her gut returned to its normal rhythm._

_ "I'm okay, just had the chills for a second…" Kagome whispered. Kouga nodded and turned away before answering._

_ "I'm sorry, I forgot that you were human for a second my lady. Sometimes my demon side gets out of hand if I lose concentration. It's especially bad around humans because they feel my aura and react strongly to it."_

_ "D-d-demons?"_

_ "What? You don't know about demons? Where the hell were you raised woman? Demons are-"_

_ "I have a name idiot! Use it!" Kagome burst at the rude refusal to acknowledge her as a fellow human, but he wasn't human. Well that was comforting._

_ "Anyways wo-Kagome, demons are the creatures that inhabit this world and are vastly superior to humans as we possess a variety of …magic you may call it, that varies from species to species." After this Kouga paused for dramatic effect. "I am of the wolf-demon species, therefore I can control wolves, like this!" He whistled and a pack of about ten wolves raced out of nowhere, or rather the depths of the jade woods they were traveling through. The wolves had wide gaping jaws with sharp yellow fangs and brutal yellow eyes._

_ Kagome screamed._

_ The wolves just meandered cautiously up to Kouga, giving a wide berth to the frightened girl. They growled and whined impatiently as if asking about the screaming figure of Kagome on the forest floor. Kouga just cocked his head to the right and stared quizzically at her._

_ "What are you doing? They're not going to hurt you…" At this Kagome raised her head and stared at the inquisitive wolves. As she saw that they weren't even near her, she finally quit her ear-splitting shriek. Carefully, she reached out a tentative hand to the nearest grey-brown wolf. He extended his soft muzzle and whined softly as she stroked his soft fur. Kagome laughed as the wolf shoved his nose into her face just like a tame dog. Looking slightly jealous, Kouga sent the wolves back into the woods with a few yips. They looked sad as they retreated back into the jade trees and not-so-jade-just-some-other-shade-of-green underbrush._

_ "Now we'll be heading home woma-Kagome," Kouga growled and stomped off into the (once again just for the fun of it) not-so-jade-just-some-other-shade-of-green underbrush beneath the jade trees._

Kagome stomped off into the dark forest, her bare feet crunching painfully on sticks for the first few strides, until she learned to seek out the place on the ground where there was the least debris to step. She remembered Kouga's kind words as he brought her a bunch of fragrant golden flowers. They winked like eyes as she glared at them, as if it was their fault that they were associated with the ones who had taken away her freedom to go home. Then she had been missing her family so much it almost physically hurt. She had rejected Kouga and everything that he entailed, such as remaining in this crazy world of demons and humans.

Now Kagome ran, her feet had toughened from walking around on the rock floor of the cave and missing that there was a rock right where she stepped. She just wanted to escape the cage that Kouga had put her in with forcing her to stay. She ran until she stumbled on a clearing. In the center of the clearing, there was a boy.

*Inuyasha*

His spirit could feel her near. The one who had almost destroyed him. The one who sealed him to this damn tree in the first place. Kikyou.

*Kagome*

Silver hair spilled over the boy's shoulders, and he was dressed in a strange bright red kimono. An arrow pinned him to the gigantic tree behind him, and he appeared to be asleep. The real kicker was the fact that he had two white ears sticking up above his bangs. Oh…she couldn't resist the urge to go up and play with his cute ears. So of course, she climbed up the mounding roots of the gigantic tree he was pinned to and began to play with his ears. God, they were so soft and fluffy.

_What if I pulled the arrow out?_ Kagome thought, knowing that this world had magic, the arrow probably put him in an eternal sleep against this tree or something. It couldn't be a bad thing to wake a-, what _was_ he even? A demon? But he looked too human, and his aura wasn't as strong or evilish as the wolves. And they were nice. So…a half-demon. Seemed possible. She shrugged and grasped the shaft. The boy seemed to tense in his sleep.

*Inuyasha*

His spirit tensed, as he felt Kikyou's hand on the shaft of the arrow. He struggled to get away from her, to keep sleeping forever. To never have to confront reality head on, always able to avoid thinking too much with his usual excuse of _hey, I'm sleeping and can't make important decisions right now_.

*Kagome*

She yanked the arrow out. Was it just her imagination, or did the boy's face actually look a tiny bit disappointed when it came out of his chest and he slid down the trunk of the tree to her feet. His eyes flickered open and found her face. Her heart almost stopped.

His eyes were the exact same color as the flowers Kouga had brought her, and had set her off on this forest expedition.

"Why hello there my dear, it's been a while since I set eyes on your filthy hide," the boy growled.

"What? Do I even know you?"

"Of course my darling traitor Kikyou. You don't remember how you tried to KILL me?!" The boy nearly screamed at her, gold eyes turned a dark red amber.

"I'm not even your filthy, lying, traitorous, KIKYOU. I AM FREAKING KAGOME." Kagome actually did scream back at him. Her already fragile temper finally breaking into tiny lethal shards of pure hate.

*Inuyasha*

Now that the thought about it, her aura was slightly different to Kikyou's, and her scent, nicer somehow. He took a step back, but kept up his haughty attitude, whoever this girl is, she wasn't going to get preferential treatment just because she didn't try to kill him when he thought that she had.

"Okay, so you're not Kikyou, what are you then?" He asked tiredly, just wanting to get back to sleep and never have to think about any problems ever again.

With a kind of wounded pride she gathered up the shards of hate and shaped them back into the semblance of a normal heart, "I am Higarashi Kagome, currently under the care of Kouga, leader of the wolf-demon tribe."

Keh, so this girl was a wolf-demon? She certainly didn't smell like one. He carefully stalked up to her and sniffed at her wolf-skin clothes. Nope, she was definitely human, just stunk an awful lot like a wolf.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She growled, and blushed slightly.

"Eh? You're human? How come you're staying with those stinkin' wolves then?" He asked in genuine curiosity.

"'Cause Kouga won't let me go back to my home…" she trailed off to gaze at the ground, where her bare foot was drawing slow, nervous spirals.

"Jeez, why?"

"I have no idea. He just doesn't want me to never come back I guess."

Inuyasha looked at the innocent, nervous girl who looked and smelled so much like his traitorous Kikyou, but acted completely different. For some reason he felt the compulsion to help this hapless human wanderer in a world of demons. Keh, another day, right now he felt too tired.

"Go back to your Kouga or whoever, I need to get to sleep," he muttered and made himself comfortable on the grass right there.

*Kagome*

Curled up and asleep in seconds, the boy, who, she just realized, had never told her his name, looked kind of cute. His ears twitched in his sleep, and he would growl every now and then.

"Kagome! Where are you! I'm sorry, please come back!" It seems that Kouga was looking for her. She sighed and heaved herself off of the ground to find the source of the voice, but not before taking one last look at the sleeping boy. _I'll be back…_

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Wow, the actual story in this chapter is 2,032 words, 2,253 if you add the author's notes and that stuff. I hope you loved the plot development in this chappie!

Note on the not-so-jade-just-some-other-shade-of-green underbrush: I was just too lazy to find a name for the color I was thinking of other than booger green, and that doesn't sound pretty does it?

THOSE WHO REVIEW GET FREE COOKIES! (bribing people is fun ^^) P.S. You don't really, sadly. 'Cause this is the internet and I can't give you any D:


	3. Jun

Hiya! I'm back! Sorry sorry sorry, but I couldn't update for _forever_ like usual because I had _so_ much stuff to do . I've added a new thing to my chapters, so at the very bottom there will be a comment response…thingy, cause I feel like having about two comments per chapter merits that. Anywaaaays, I'm adding an ability that Inuyasha doesn't have in the series to this fic, so Inuyasha can now turn into a dog, like, a fluffy white dog about a foot high. Just be warned, because it will be useful in the story.

A SHOUTOUT TO ALL WHO FOLLOWED AND REVIEWED AND READ ^^, here's your new chapter.

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The Wolf's Dog

Jun

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Key

*(insert name)* = POV change

_Italics_ = thoughts or flashback

* * *

*Kagome*

Her days were now marked by her forest walks. Like the idiot he sometimes was, Kouga was convinced that all she did was walk. No. She visited Inuyasha. Their friendship had grown tremendously over the past month she had been trapped in the past. She knew that even if she managed to convince Kouga to let her go back, she would never be able to leave for good. Not now.

*General POV*

Every day Inuyasha and Kagome would get into a fight about something stupid, like the way Inuyasha was too lazy to find himself food and she would have to bring him some. HE'S A FREAKING HALF-DEMON WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE SO _LAZY_! Sometimes Kagome would hit him very hard, with her trusty stick. Kouga said that he would get her a sword to protect herself eventually. If she promised to not kill him with it first, but that promise didn't have to include Inuyasha.

Nobody would have thought that Inuyasha and Kagome would grow to be friends, giving how they acted towards each other. Inuyasha was totally indifferent to Kagome, except for that one time when she had somehow missed that there was a huge cliff in front of her. Then he had lunged towards her with a horrified look on his face. He had caught her just as the loose dirt on the edge crumbled down into a huge chasm that awaited. They had both clung to each other for a minute, breathing heavily as they stared at the rather beautiful red death trap in front of them. Differently colored layers of stone made up the sides of the canyon, all shades of orange and red. The other side was well over 500 feet away, and looked like a desert. There were a few green-brown shrubs clinging to the orange sand, and several cactus standing tall. The sun decided that it was a perfect time to plunge towards the horizon, bathing the already orange-red landscape in soft peach hues and gray shadows.

Kagome had even protected Inuyasha once. He had been sleeping, and a demon had decided to visit. It was one of the extremely low level ones, but Inuyasha was sleeping deeply and didn't notice as the demon decided that a powerful half-demon was good enough for a meal. Kagome had wandered in at the right moment, stopping the demon in the middle of its plotting. She had immediately sized up the situation and smacked the demon, hard, across the nose. It merely whined at her and retreated. That was one of the few experiences with 'evil' demons that Kagome ever had.

Eventually, Kagome and Inuyasha had come to respect and care for each other in their own demented way. They protected each other, mostly Inuyasha protecting Kagome, and they fought a lot. But they cared, you could tell from the way they would have conversations over the most stupid stuff. Kagome happened to rant a lot about the stupidities of her wolf-demons, and Inuyasha just sat though her rants and played with the grass beside him. They mostly just sat beside the tree where Kagome had found Inuyasha. He practically lived there, you could see the dent in the grass where he slept every night.

*Kagome*

"Hey Inuyasha? Kouga says that we're going to go back to his original home in a week. They don't usually live here apparently," she sighed and turned her brown eyes towards the blue cloud-less sky. Besides her Inuyasha shifted and stopped scratching designs in the dirt.

"You're leaving?" He asked, turning to face her. Even though he tried to hide it, loneliness crept into his golden eyes.

"You can just follow us right?" Kagome asked hopefully. Inuyasha scratched at his right ear and threw his nose into the air.

"Why would I want to follow a stupid girl like you who can't even protect herself!?" he snorted and turned around so that his back was to her, long silver hair rustling in the faint breeze. A stray light pink sakura petal drifted down onto the grass in front of Kagome. She picked it up and sadly crushed the delicate petal between her fingers, turning it a dark pink. Another one landed on Inuyasha's nose, and he sneezed, dislodging it. In the distance, she could see the tree that the petals had fallen from, glowing pink in the midday sun. They sat in silence for a few minutes as she turned and played with the grass by her side. Inuyasha faced her once again, but with worry in his eyes this time. "So who will protect you if I'm not there? Kouga can't. Wolves can't protect anything, just destroy it," he whispered so softly it was as if he didn't want her to hear.

Kagome stood up and prepared to walk away, even though her 'walk' was still not over. Usually she left about now, but she had wanted to spend some extra time with Inuyasha, just in case he decided to stay like he had. He was always so infuriating, acting like he didn't care one moment, but acting as if she meant the world to him the next.

"I'm going to go back and pack," Kagome waved and started to leave, but a hand on her sleeve stopped her.

"I have an idea," Inuyasha grinned widely, showing off sharp, long canines. "Lookie what I can do!" He closed his eyes for a second, before slowly beginning to shrink. Like any normal person, Kagome stared. His long silver hair shortened and thickened, covering his entire body. Mouth and nose lengthened into a muzzle, and a stubby tail grew. On the forest floor was a dog. Albeit a small fluffy white dog, but a dog. Who was Inuyasha. Inuyasha was a dog. Inuyasha could turn into a dog. Well that was interesting.

He woofed…literally, like he was trying to act like a dog, but failing. Apparently he could still talk.

"See see see see see see see…aren't I the coolest thing you ever saw!" he barked energetically. Kagome wrinkled her nose as he rubbed up against her leg and gave it a big _slobbering_ lick.

"Ew! If you come like that, no more licks!" she shouted as loud as she could, disrupting the birds in nearby trees. Inuyasha cowered on the ground as she stopped her stick millimeters from hitting his head.

"You're lucky that I don't have the sword Kouga promised me, or your head would be in two pieces on the ground!" she harrumphed and sat down on the grass, her stick mysteriously stuck back in her belt.

"Keh, you couldn't even lift a sword!" he snorted and transformed back into his human-ish form. "That form is so restricti-…OMPH. NO MORE STICKS OKAY!"

"No," Kagome turned her nose into the air as he twitched on the ground behind her. "You need discipline, and for your information, I _can_ lift a sword. I practice almost daily with the swordsmith who's going to make it. He says that I'm more of a speed type anyways, so it won't be anything heavy." She turned so her back was facing Inuyasha and rubbed the top of her trusty, stout, stick/practice sword. The sunset spread slowly across the sky as the unlikely pair of friends, a human from the future, and a 200 year (about) old half-demon.

"Shoot! I need to get back to Kouga, he'll be wondering where I went. We're leaving tomorrow, want to come back with me today? They might want to make sure that you're not going to like, pee on them or something before they let you come." That made Inuyasha turn around.

"I do _not_ pee on people. Maybe _you_, if you annoy me sometime though?"

"YOU WOULD NOT DARE."

"I would."

"No. I still wear this stick for the sole purpose of hitting you now. You are the BANE OF MY EXISTANCE."

"Keh, don't get all riled up, woman."

"WHO ARE YOU TO CALL ME THAT IN SUCH A DISRESPECTFUL MANNER, DAMN DOG."

"WOMAN WOMAN WOMAN WOMAN WOMAN WOMAN WOMAN."

"YOU. UHMGR. I SWEAR YOU DOG. YOU WILL BE PUT IN YOUR PLACE."

"Even when you can't touch me?"

"Get out of that tree! Come down! Nrgggggggg."

* * *

Two hours later…

"If you do that again, I will hang you from your damn tree with your own hair." Kagome growled and walked away from the twitching heap of half-demon.

"Bitch! DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME LYING HELPLESS HERE!" Inuyasha managed to reach one shaking hand out to her. "I DON'T WANT TO DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE." She kicked away his hand and leaned down.

"If you promise to never again grab _my_ leg to stop yourself from falling off the highest branch in a huge tree." She proposed.

"_So_, I can grab your _foot_ to keep me from falling off?" he asked innocently.

"NO. You can't grab any part of my body if you're about to fall." She retorted. He looked up at her with, ironically enough, big puppy eyes. She could have sworn that his mouth was actually quivering as if trying to hold back tears. Of course she couldn't resist.

"Fine! If I let you have my hand, you can take it to keep you from falling!" she sighed and grabbed him by his hair. "We're going back now. It's _three hours_ past when I usually go in." She yanked him by his mane of shaggy, silver hair towards the cave the wolf-demons were currently staying in. "C'mon and change already!"

"Okay, okay. Wait a minute, woman." He muttered, and started to change.

"DON'T CALL ME WOMAN AGAIN!" she growled.

"Shush little woman don't say a word, Inuyasha…can't sing." He said as his voice broke in the middle of a note. Kagome just picked up the little, fluffy, white dog currently on the ground and ran full tilt back towards the cave.

"Kouga! Sorry that I'm late. I just found him in the forest and _had_ to bring him home! Can he stay? Please! Please!" Kagome turned on her act.

"Eh? What? You're late?" Kouga scratched his head. Inuyasha growled for no reason.

"Shush…don't scare Kouga…Jun." Kagome crooned, coming up with another name for Inuyasha in a second. Inuyasha growled again, but at her this time, because the name literally meant obedient.

"Anyways, Kagome, we were just packing! Are you sure that you want to bring that mutt along?" Kouga asked, looking apprehensively at the fluffy dog in Kagome's arms.

"Of course I do! He can just stay with me." She moved to her part of the cave, and gathered up her few belongings, setting Inuyasha down. "Stop misbehaving _Jun_. Or else I might have to actually kick you out." Inuyasha just glared and showed a fang.

Kagome ignored him and picked up her bag, another gift from the wolf-demons, and stuffed extra pairs of clothes into it, including her old, ruined, school uniform, which she only saved because of the memories and hope to go back embedded in the filthy, torn fabric.

She was ready to leave, with her best friend the dog by her side. She might not ever come back to her world now, so she would visit the well tomorrow, just to say goodbye.

* * *

(my new comment thing)

Crayzedfangurllll: XD…I love how it was originally 5 times, but I messed it up and made it 6, so now you just watched 167 more episodes.

Cutepuppy01: Here's your long awaited new chapter! Sorry about the cookie thing, it was fake bribery (low of me I know…), but you can have a character you want in here, just ask and I'll try!

Larissa: Thanks! I don't even have the story plotted out, the summary basically sums up all I know about the plot so far. I just write as I go…XD.

Lady takahashiblu: I see you were too lazy to log in, friend. Yup, next chapter she gets to fall back into her time too. Oops, no more plot revealers :P

Guest: Yeah…they have an, _interesting_, relationship sometimes.


	4. Only a Demon after All

Okay…I _know_ that I didn't update in _forever_. But…school…laziness…life…yeah. Basically I was either too busy with school or too tired to update. However…SUMMER VACATION IS HEREEEEEEEEEEE! I HAVE TIMEEEEEE! So I will (try) to _not_ be lazy and actually update.

REALLY GUYS ONLY TWO REVIEWS ON THE LAST CHAPTER?! I raised you better than this, children. I did forget to ask though *whistles innocently*…WHERE IS THAT FANBASE I KNOW I HAVE 'CAUSE I HAVE 10 FOLLOWERS (so many). Meh…you don't need to review but it certainly helps me get motivation to update (hint, hint). …ON WITH THE STORY…

* * *

The Wolf's Dog

Only a Demon after All

* * *

Key

*(insert name)* = POV change

_Italics_ = thoughts or flashback

* * *

*Kagome*

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left fo-oh look a root! Trip.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow…" Kagome muttered as she rubbed the spot on the left side of her head where it had connected rather intimately with the ground. Inuyasha was laying a couple feet away in dog form, with his muzzle under his paw trying his best not to laugh. Up ahead the well Kagome had fallen into this time from protruded out of a clump of tall grass, covered with crawling vines.

"Oi Kagome! How many times are you going to fall! Can't you just say goodbye to the damned well already! It's not like anyone is going to be there to talk to you, so get a move on it!" Kouga yelled in his becoming-rather-annoying voice behind Kagome. She scrambled to her feet, glaring at the offending root, before brushing her clothes off and smoothing her hair.

"Well I'm sorry if this is the best I can do to say goodbye to my family, because _someone_ wouldn't let me say a proper goodbye. I mean, couldn't you just come through the well with me?" she growled as the same root seemed to move and try and trip her again. The whole forest was against her wasn't it?

"Well your family could just steal you while I'm turned around or something…" Kouga seemed to visibly deflate at the logic in Kagome's statement. She frowned, sometimes he really was like a wolf in his possessive and rather controlling ways. Her skirt floated a bit too high for her liking as she twirled around to face the well, and sat down on the rim. _I know that you can't hear me, Grandpa, Souta, Mom. I'm so sorry that I haven't come back to visit you, but I'm kinda being held captive by a wolf-demon. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's the Feudal Era here, anything is possible. I wish I could come back and visit you, I have friends here, and it seems like this time fits me better than home did sometimes. I just fit right in with my two crazy, animalistic friends. I don't think it would be easy to say goodbye after the time I've spent getting to know them and living with them. I know that if I could I wou-_

Scream. On and on. It pierced her ears and hit her brain, seeming to drive white-hot nails into it. Inuyasha was on the ground by Kagome's feet curled in a tiny, white ball to stop the noise as best as he could, his mouth open in an unheard whine. Kouga was crouched by a tree, his hands over his ears and eyes squeezed shut, trying in vain to block the noise out. Kagome threw her head back and screamed along with whatever it was, forgetting all the pain her brain was going through for a second as her instinctual cry of dominance took over all logic. Silence. It hurt almost as much as the scream had.

A black blur shot out of the trees in a flurry of leaves and flying feathers. Giant black wings expanded to propel the creature forwards as it slammed into Kagome and pushed her back, legs flying as she fell down the well. The demon screeched in victory over its challenger, as a small dog and a wolf-demon leapt after the falling girl. Wind pulled at Kagome's clothes as purple light encased her, warping time to bring her back to her world.

"Kagome!" Kouga screamed and Inuyasha howled along with him as Kouga hit the floor of the well, and Inuyasha plunged into swirling purple with her.

*Inuyasha*

The first thing he noticed was the stench. It hurt his nose, assaulting him with unnatural, unfamiliar, and harsh scents. Next he noticed the sound. It roared in his ears, driving out rational thought for a moment as his ears frantically tried to lessen the noise. Then his eyes flickered open to the sight of not-so-attractive crumbling dirt.

"Ah, you're awake Inuyasha," a familiar voice breathed. Golden eyes moved over to meet brown ones.

"Keh. You think a little fall will kill me?" he sat up, realizing that the switch had somehow switched him out of dog form. Well, he didn't really like that form anyways, Kagome could bully him in it. His claws raked dirt as he pushed himself up and stared at the square of wood visible through the top of the well.

"Where are we anyways? It smells horrible…" he grumbled, nose working to make out scents other than that sharp stench that seemed so common here.

"We're back in my time!" Kagome responded, twirling around and staring at the wall. "I need you to get us out though…I can't climb this wall." Inuyasha moved to stand behind her and studied the height of the well shaft.

"Well I could just jump out…" he muttered more to himself than Kagome, but she responded cheerily anyways.

"Great! Let's go, I want to see my family!" Kagome jumped up onto Inuyasha's back, and he stood still for a moment trying to remember what he was doing. Oh yeah! Jumping up the well. He bunched his muscles and bounded up to just above the rim of the well, landing easily on the ground inside the shrine. Kagome jumped off and ran out towards her house, not even bothering to thank him for his voluntary slavery. Hmph. Look at who does all the work sometimes.

He crept towards the strange, huge house, all the while examining the source of the strange scents. A wide, black road winded though the trees at the foot of the stairs Kagome's house and the shrine were at the top of. Strange, shiny beasts roared along the road as fast as he could run, emitting that foul scent from earlier. His feet carried him towards the strange building that was apparently Kagome's home, where he could hear squeals and sobs of delight where she was apparently reuniting with her family. Inuyasha didn't see what was so good about family, well he supposed that they protected you, but in the end, they would always just leave you to fend for yourself.

_"Mama! They were calling me a monster again!"_

_ "This time they said that my dad is too powerful to care about his only half-demon son…"_

_ "Mama, my chest hurts…why did you have to leave?"_

_ "You're useless Inuyasha, you could never meet father's expectations of you. Just leave and never return."_

_ "…leave me Inuyasha, I have business to attend to…"_

No, family was good for nothing. All they ever did was abandon you when you most needed them. And his father and brother were full demons. He could never meet them in power as he was. He needed to be a demon too. He paused in front of Kagome's door. He had known the second he has seen her that she was connected to the Sacred Jewel. A slight difference in her scent was all it had taken for him to figure out that she wasn't Kikyou, but she was so like her that something had to connect her to Kikyou. After spending a good two months with her, he had deduced that she had to be Kikyou's resurrection. Her personality was nothing like Kikyou's except for the amazingly altruistic attitude, but they looked almost exactly the same. His hand raised of its own will and pushed the door open.

Three pairs of eyes looked at him inquisitively, and Kagome just sighed, not meeting his gaze.

"Who's this Kagome?" the woman asked, eyes drawn immediately to Inuyasha's ears where they folded back to escape from her gaze.

"He's…my friend…from…where I was…" Kagome mumbled, suddenly afraid to meet her mom's eyes.

"It's okay honey, you don't have to tell us about it right away," her…mom, he guessed, soothed, stroking Kagome's hair as she continued to gaze at the floor. Kagome suddenly pulled away, grabbing onto Inuyasha's sleeve, dragging him up a set of stairs.

"I need to have a talk with him guys. Give us some time please," she called out over her shoulder as she raced up the stairs with him stumbling behind. She didn't slow until she reached a door at the end of the hallway, skidding to a halt and forcing him to backpedal rapidly to avoid running into her.

"Oi! Woman! What do you want!" he barked out as she rushed to open her door and slip inside, all the while keeping hold of his sleeve.

"Shh." She whispered "We need to be inside to talk, or they might hear us." He reluctantly stepped inside, and glowered at the amount of pink inside. _You did this just to torment me didn't you,_ he sneered internally. Kagome moved towards her bed with none of her usual energy, instead a black aura seemed to emirate from her.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING YOU BASTARD? I COULD HAVE HAD A NORMAL LIFE, BUT NO, YOU TWO TRIED TO FOLLOW ME. AND WHY THE FUCK DID ONLY YOU COME THOUGH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO KOUGA, HE'S NOT THAT BAD YOU KNOW!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Inuyasha cowered in the corner of the room, covering his ears, eyes wide from her harsh anger.

*Kagome*

She was so mad she couldn't describe it in words even if she wanted to. She loved that world, but it would be so much simpler if she could just stay in her own time and forget the bizarre demon friends she had grown so attached to. They were probably the cause of her _very strange_ scream for dominance before. Living around a wolf and a dog probably wasn't good for her human tendencies. And Inuyasha and Kouga had to try and _follow_ her when she had the chance to go _home_. As if she was in danger or something. She doubted Kouga even cared that much, he probably just wanted to keep his toy around. At least he hadn't tried to sexually harass her like she could see he had the urge to do often.

Inuyasha…well…Inuyasha was her best friend, but he was so damn _infuriating_. How could someone _possibly_ be this irritating yet remain the one person she would trust her life to on more than one occasion? It was a mystery to her. Now he had to come _here_. True, she wouldn't have made it out of that well without him, but she could have just shouted a lot and someone would have probably come. Now, as she stared at Inuyasha covering his fragile ears, eyes wide, she prepared for an onslaught of returned curses. She got something she _definitely_ hadn't expected.

"Bitch! Why do you care about your stupid that family that much anyways?! In the end all they're going to do is desert you and leave you! I'm sorry I messed up your little _oh-let's-be-best-friends-before-we-all-leave_ party, but I'm not exactly a creature of logic! If my brain had been working properly, I would never have followed you in the first place! A demon doesn't need friends! I work alone! Sure, I might help someone once or twice, but I expect a price to be paid! Friends, family, hell, even lovers! Will just abandon you in the end! I'm leaving!" he turned and stormed out of her room, leaving marks in the corner where his claws had gouged the wood.

Kagome just sat in shock. She had expected to be railed at, but _nothing_ to this degree.

"WHAT EXACTLY DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS, GOD!" she screamed, her head falling into her hands as the shock of her only true friend telling her that he had never even liked her set in. Tears leaked out of soft brown eyes turned hard, dripping into a small puddle on her blankets. She looked up, tears drying as she knew what to do.

"Well fuck you too Inuyasha. You were only a demon's spawn in the first place. I don't see why that has to change now. I don't need you. I don't need you. I don't need you. I don't need you. And I never will again." She promised herself. "I will never again think of your traitorous, lying self. Never. All demons ever do is hurt you. Never again." She collapsed on her bed and fell into unconsciousness as soft feet padded away outside.

*Inuyasha*

It hurt. It hurt as much as the time his mother had died. Why was this? He thought that he had hardened his heart to endure all pain, even faking love for Kikyou in a foolish attempt to get close to the Sacred Jewel. But no, a foolish human had to come around and soften him before he remembered the pain that trusting _anybody_ besides yourself can bring. Inside he could hear her scream and promise to never, _never_ again trust a demon. Maybe now she could understand the harsh truth of the world he had tried to teach her. Everyone is out to get you, everyone will leave you in the end. That was the cycle. But why did it hurt so much?

* * *

AN: Blegh, I need to write more...

Review please...

:3


	5. Forgivance

**AN: **NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NEVER HAVE I GOTTEN SO MANY REVIEWS IN SUCH A SHORT TIME. I noticed that a lot of people left after the third chapter though…whatever I was lazy on that one. Bleh (I might edit it). I was also on vacation in the car with no WiFi and nothing to do so….yeah…. I'm trying to keep the ANs shorter now so let's get to the story! Time to mess up your perception of Inuyasha again…

* * *

The Wolf's Dog

Forgivance

* * *

Key

*(insert name)* = POV change

_Italics_ = thoughts or flashback

* * *

*Kagome*

She hadn't slept well the first night. All night she had tossed and turned and moaned, dreaming about their fight. The next day she was distinctively haggard looking, and her parents questioned her about why the boy she had brought had suddenly trudged out of the house in a depressed manner. She hadn't responded, only scowling into her cereal and watching it grow soggy and disgusting.

"Kagome-chan, there's school today, but you don't have to go if you don't want to. This whole thing must be hard on you. You can just stay at home with Grandpa when I go to work. Don't force yourself so soon after getting back from wherever you were." Her mom said as she cleared the dishes off the table and stared at Kagome's untouched cereal. "Not hungry?" Kagome just shrugged and clumsily stood up.

"I'm going to my room," she muttered. Her toe caught on the second step and she stumbled, catching onto the railing for balance as her mom looked on with concern. Kagome managed to make it up the rest of the stairs and down the hallway to her room, where she collapsed on her bed and stared at the wall. _I told myself that I didn't need them. But now I miss _him_ and Kouga too much, they actually understood me. They're both demons though, they've probably forgotten about me by now…I should probably just forget about them._

*Inuyasha*

"WHY DID YOU LEAVE HER ALONE?! TRAITOR! WHO EVEN ARE YOU! YOUR SCENT IS THE SAME AS THAT BITCHY LITTLE DOG! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU, HANYOU!" Kouga shouted, teeth bared in a feral snarl at the loss of his toy. Inuyasha merely dropped his eyes shut and sighed, _god, I've messed up_.

_ A demon doesn't need friends! I work alone!_

His ears swiveled back in surprise as Kouga suddenly stopped shouting. He could hear heavy breaths, and realized for the first time, that Kouga was injured. It must have been from when the well didn't let him though, and he probably crashed into the ground.

"I would have chased after her if I could, but I trusted you to bring her back, since I couldn't. Now you've gone and left her there! She was special, couldn't you feel it? She was a miko or something." Kouga whimpered and set his head in his hands.

"Keh. I'd like to see _you_ even _try_ to bring her back…after all, you're just a _demon _after all. Apparently she doesn't need _demons_ to mess up her life." Inuyasha muttered, jumping down from his tree. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he was up and running to find a decent outlet for his anger besides that infuriating wolf-demon. It only took him a minute to find a huge tree, perfect for slashing up.

A wild howl tore through his lips as his claws tore through bark and wood to the sticky green core of the trunk. He kept up his relentless attacks though, making pulp out of a once stately old tree. When he was done, his hands were coated in sap and wood pulp, but his anger was gone, replaced with an emptiness that comes with losing your first friend.

"Fuck. What did I do wrong? I thought I did perfectly fine. I helped her and saved her from dying, even agreeing with her on some points! It's not my fault that I never talked to or trusted anybody! Blame them! Blame my family!" Inuyasha let out a rather frustrated scream and stomped off to find another good tree.

*Kagome*

_They're forgetting about you, they're forgetting about you, they're forgetting about you, forget about them._

*Inuyasha*

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, for the first time in my life, I'm legit sorry about something. I'm sorry I lost my temper. I'm sorry._

*Kagome*

_I have to go back and face them. No, don't, they'll just laugh. I'll just stay here and get on with my life…_

That night, she slept better, but she still had nightmares about them. She would imagine them huge and hulking with dead red eyes as they loomed over her and sneered at her for trusting them.

_Did you really believe that we were your friends? Hah! Nobody has ever been our friend. __**We don't need you**__._

That morning she woke up with a headache and a hollow chest, but better. She still didn't go to school though. When her mom and Souta got back home, the torture began.

"Hey Kagome, I think it's time you tell us where you've been for the past few months. We were almost ready to admit you were dead like so many people thought and try to move on!" Her mom said quietly at dinner. "We're just concerned for you honey. We don't want you to get hurt and we have no idea what happened when you were gone."

"Mom, if I told you guys, you wouldn't believe me," Kagome sighed wearily and turned to the expensive steak on her plate, undoubtedly bought in celebration for her coming back.

"Of course we would honey! We're family! You can tell us anything and we'll believe you!" her mom quickly reassured. _Lies_, a voice told Kagome. _They won't believe you, you can try, but they won't believe._

"Mom… You. Would. Not. Believe. Me."

"Sweetie…you can trust in us. I know this must have been hard, but the police and everyone else just _need to know_. We need to make sure whoever is responsible for this is punished, and make sure that you're all right."

"If you want to hear that much, listen to what I have to say, and at least try to believe."

And so the tale was told, omitting the part about Inuyasha and her argument. There was dead silence in the room as Kagome finished and sat back in satisfaction, watching the war on her mom's face between following her promise and what she really felt. What she really felt won, Kagome could tell from her mom's resigned look as she sighed and faced Kagome.

"Kagome, I know that you might think that this is all true, but can you really expect us to believe that you went _back in time and met with demons_. I mean, this is all so farfetched, I know you showed up wearing furs, but, if you're having this kind of delusion, then something is wrong. Do you think you need a therapist?"

"Mom, I'm fine. I told you that you wouldn't believe me. I'm perfectly fine, just because you don't believe the truth doesn't mean that I'm messed up. I'm going to my room," Kagome whispered. Her voice had been right, they wouldn't believe her. They wouldn't believe the truth.

"Kagome, stay here and talk this out with us. If you truly believe this, we need to take you to a psychiatrist." Her mom looked unusually concerned and slightly frightened that something could be 'wrong' with her 'perfect' daughter. Before, Kagome had always had perfect grades and was good at sports, it seemed that nothing could go wrong. Now, they were facing the possibility of something very, very wrong with this 'perfect' child.

"I'm fine! If you don't believe me that's fine, but stay away from what you don't understand!"

"You're not fine! If you truly believe that you visited…the past, or something, then you are obviously not fine!"

"I knew that you wouldn't believe me, but I still told you! Isn't it enough for you that I gave you a chance to keep your own word?!"

"I know that I broke my promise, but do you really expect me to believe that fairy tale you just told us!"

_Yes_, Kagome answered in her head, _yes I did, only a little, but I did_. On the outside, she was calm, turning with a practiced and controlled step to walk up the stairs back into the safe haven of her room. On the inside, she was hollow and empty. Her steps echoed in the room that was just as hollow as her, as her grandfather and little brother stared at her mom, who had caused this loss of trust by her own overprotectiveness and insensitivity.

Stony-faced, her mom walked over to the phonebook and picked out a psychiatrist that seemed trustworthy and would come to the house to see Kagome.

* * *

…the next day…

*Kagome*

"Oi Kagome! Breakfast's ready! Come down!" her mom shouted at what seemed like the top of her lungs. Kagome just buried herself deeper in the sheets and tried to block out the almost painful noise. _God, I really am becoming just like them, normally this noise wouldn't have bothered me at all!_ She froze. _Them_. Yesterday. The argument. How could she face her family now? Her stomach growled fiercely, that's how, with the excuse of breakfast.

Throwing clothes on, Kagome took the stairs two at a time, determined to get her torture over with. She landed easily on the ground (_damn, not another second-hand demon trait picking an inopportune time to show up_) and was halfway to the kitchen before realizing that there was a stranger at the table. She stared for a second, not understanding, before her mother's words from yesterday echoed through her mind.

_ If you truly believe this, we need to take you to a psychiatrist._

No. Oh no. Please no, anything but this. Her back bumped into the wall, and she realized that she had been backing up to escape the horror. _I am normal, I am normal, I am normal, __**I do not need a therapist**_. The voice decided that this was the time to make an appearance, _but are you? Do you really believe that you went __**back in time and befriended two demons**__? Heh, no wonder your mom didn't believe such a farfetched tale._

No, no no no no no. This is not happening. _I don't need a psychiatrist_.

"Kagome-chan, it's for the best, please just let her talk to you!" her mom appeared from the kitchen.

"No." _This is not what I need. I don't need another person telling me that I'm crazy and need to fix myself. I am perfectly normal, I can live my life without them, I can forget them. I can never go back, never see them again, forget, and be normal._

_**Kagome. We're missing you, come back. Come back…**_

Thud. Kagome's knee involved in intimate contact with the ground. Her hands dug into her hair to clutch at her throbbing head, but the pain didn't let up.

_**It hurts…to be alone…I miss you…**_

_** Why couldn't I keep you here? All I wanted…**_

_No._

_**Yes…**_

_No, I won't. No no no no no n-…f-fine…I'll go back…_

"Kagome! Kagome! Kago-" the dissonant chorus of the unknown psychiatrist and her mom was cut short as Kagome dashed to her room, where she stripped and donned her clean and familiar furs and tied on the boots as quickly as she could. The psychiatrist had apparently followed her upstairs.

"Now Ka-" the psychologist said. She was cut off by Kagome dashing past her, not giving her a chance to speak.

_I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming home._

The well was familiar and welcoming as Kagome threw herself into the darkness, ignoring the screams of her mother and the stranger who was to have been her psychiatrist.

"KAGOME. WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU'LL KILL YOURS-"

Purple light engulfed her, crying out in silent ecstasy at having her return to it. Kagome smiled in acknowledgement as the sparkles swirled around her, softly depositing her on the dirt bottom of the well once again.

Bright blue sky shone from the square opening of the well like a promise of a new start.

_I'm coming Inuyasha, Kouga. I'm coming to make things right. I was wrong. I _can't _live without you. You are more a family to me than my real family now. I belong here. I never should have left._

* * *

**AN: **_Over 1,000 views, 18 follows, and 12 comments. I love you guys so muchhhhhh! Keep it up!_

(comment response thingy {now only for un-logged-in people})

Megan: meh, too lazy to reply to both of your comments. I KNOW I TAKE TOO LONG TO UPDATE I'M SOOOOO SORRY (maybe) I JUST GET INVOLVED IN EVERYTHING EXCEPT FOR WRITING TOO MUCH! meep

**AN:** Moar reviews pleaseeeeeeee? They are my fooooood and I loooooove fooooood.


	6. Absol

**AN**: Well, that only took me more than a month to update. But it's summerrrrrrrr, I got involved in reading fanfics, watching anime, playing video games (I finally got a 3DS!) that crap. I _might_ have forgotten to write. Maybe. BUT I LIVE. FORGIVE MEH *bows*.

* * *

The Wolf's Dog

Journey

* * *

*Kagome*

The forest looked like a bulldozer had come through and paid no heed to the plants whose livelihood it tore away. Trees wrecked, sap oozing into puddles on the torn dirt. Grass ripped up by the roots and strewn around like birdseed. A trail of fallen branches led away into the forest, all of them scarred with claw marks. She knew who had done that. Inuyasha. _Oh god, I'm so sorry I did this to you_. She hadn't realized that she crossed the mutilated clearing until her feet crunched on leaves, driving her to a halt. _Am I ready to do this? Yes, what I did was unforgivable, but I might be able to find my peace of mind. I'll carry on._ Now she was in full control of herself, feet pounding the ground, not caring as countless branches clutched at her clothes and scratched at her face. _I will find you. I will make this right_.

*Inuyasha*

He could smell her. She was close, so close. _What is she doing here? Didn't she scream at me and tell me she didn't need the help of a _demon_?_ He couldn't confront her, not now. He still had to convince himself that life might have something worth living for…maybe. He let his feet take him wherever they would.

*Kagome*

Without even seeing him, she knew that he was running. Running away from _her_. The soles of her feet ached from hitting rocks and sticks, but she pushed onward, she had to make things right. She broke out of the trees, into a clearing with a simply massive tree toppled over in the middle. The tree was decimated. Over a thousand years of life ripped away from it with a pair of sharp claws. On the other side of the clearing deep, angry footprints led away from her. She followed them through the woods, winding deeper into a place she didn't know.

Sunlight began to worm its way through the thick branches above her as the trees thinned, hinting to a break from entangling vines and underbrush. Sure enough, the trees suddenly disappeared, leaving her in a now familiar part of the woods. Their tree. High up in the top branches, she could see a scrap of red.

"_Inuyasha_," she whispered, then cleared her throat.

"Inuyasha," she quietly called. Her voice shook. "Come down, I just want to talk. I'm so sorry."

"Keh! You better be fucking sorry!" came his snarled reply. "You do understand that I've _never_ had _any_ friends before? 200 years and I've _never_ been able to open up to someone. You were the first I _ever_ trusted. _AND I WON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE. GONE AND REVEALED YOUR TRAITOROUS FACE AT LAST. THEY'RE ALL THE SAME. EVERY STINGLE HUMAN IS THE SAME!_"

"Inuyasha! I-I, I don't know what came over me, but I'm truly sorry. I was just way to homesick and mad and, oh, I don't know! It wasn't what I really thought!" Kagome blinked back tears before continuing. "I've never really had any friends in my world. All they care about is who is dating who and who had sex with who. I've always been different. But here, I felt like I finally belong somewhere. I would never want to leave that. I'd never want to leave you and Kouga."

"Damn wolf," Inuyasha muttered, looking rather uncomfortable with all the emotion hanging in the air. He scratched at his ear and looked away sheepishly. "I'm sorry I said all of those things. I've never been good with people. But, I guess it's okay if you stay." His fingers scratched at the tree branch he was perched on for a second before he launched himself into the air and landed in front of her. There was an awkward silence as Kagome stared at his familiar silver ears twitching in the faint breeze, and Inuyasha stared at his feet as he shuffled them in the dirt.

"Well, I guess we have to go tell Kouga who you are and why I'm back," Kagome said awkwardly. Inuyasha's ears pinned back at the mention of the wolf-demon, and a small growl rose up out of his throat.

"I don't trust that wolf. Always being so possessive about you," Inuyasha muttered.

"Inuyasha, he's just trying to protect me. From what I don't know, but he is." Despite her reassurances, Inuyasha's ears stayed back as he looked up at her and quit growling.

"Still don't trust him."

"Let's just go!"

"No."

"Inuyasha…"

"No."

Kagome expertly flipped a random stick off the ground into her hand with her foot. "You were saying?" Her stick was pointed at a place where Inuyasha would _very, very much_ prefer _not_ to be hit. He gulped and edged away from her.

"You know, I don't think spending so much time with those wolves was very good for you…" he whispered, ears now flat against his skull with fear. "Let's get going then." He carefully pushed her stick to the ground and set off to where his nose told him Kouga was. Kagome gave him an amused glance and followed him.

* * *

*Kagome*

The area around Kouga was more worn from incessant pacing than damaged from frustration like the place where Inuyasha had run from her. He was too busy muttering and wearing a path in the grass to do much in the way of noticing her and Inuyasha.

"Um, Kouga?" she called hesitantly. He didn't hear her.

"Who…annoying…dog…lost…_idiot_…" she could catch snatches of his words.

"_Kouga_," she snapped. Kouga dug his feet into the ground to stop, and his head whipped around 180 degrees to stare at her like she was undead or something.

"Kouga. I wasn't going to leave anyways. I was just catching up with my idiotic family," she said exasperatedly. "I kind of ran away from them too. I don't think they'll take kindly to my running away. Most likely I'm here to stay this time."

Kouga seemed to consider it for a second before scratching his head uncomfortably, reminding Kagome so much of Inuyasha she had to suppress a giggle

"Who the hell is that though?" Kouga asked, pointing rudely at Inuyasha.

"This is my friend, Kouga. Please don't kill him."

"Hey! I could beat that stupid wolf in a second!" Inuyasha growled.

"I'd like to see you try, mutt!" In a flash, Inuyasha and Kouga were crouched and circling each other.

"Um…guys? We kind of have another problem…" Kagome called out.

"What is it?" Inuyasha responded, never taking his eyes of Kouga.

"There's a huge demon right behind me."

"WHAT." Both demons in front of her turned to stare at the huge, black panther-like thing behind her.

"Um…how did that get there?" Inuyasha asked.

"Maybe it crept up on us when _you two were fighting_?" Kagome said innocently.

"I'll take care of it." Inuyasha and Kouga said at once. In an instant they were back to locking glares and ignoring the world around them. Kagome sighed, _boys_. _I'll just do it myself then._ Her eyes flitted around the small clearing for a weapon, and landed on the sword belted to Kouga's waist. She grinned and crept over behind Kouga, _he won't mind if I just-_, her fingers closed on the grip, _-take this_, she slowly pulled it out of the sheath with light fingers. _Wow, he didn't notice. You would think he would notice if I stole his _sword.

The panther-demon growled as Kagome faced it, trying to remember all the sword fighting tips Kouga had given her in the past few months. _Keep your stance wide, center of gravity low, don't let the enemy get behind y-_

The panther-demon sprung with no warning, rushing through the air with lethal intent, claws slashing. Kagome sprung to the side, and used the demon's momentum against him as she hacked at his face.

"Kagome!" It appeared that Inuyasha and Kouga had finally stopped fighting each other and realized that Kagome was being attacked. She just flashed them a smile as the panther-demon writhed on the ground in front of her, one eyeball a useless mess. Kagome shuddered as the demon heaved itself up from the ground, sending a fresh wave of blood falling from its ruined eye.

_So…hungry…_ a small female voice growled in the back of her mind. Kagome shook her head to clear it from small strange thought-voices as the panther-demon panted in front of Kagome, swaying on its feet. The voice echoed in her mind again, _must…eat…OH MY POOR FOREST…ALL GONE…everything…kill…_

The panther-demon's eyes hardened, and it started circling Kagome. For the first time, Kagome saw that beneath oily, dirty fur, the demon's bones stuck out. _Was that you?_ Kagome thought, remembering the small, starved voice from a few seconds before.

"Um, are you hungry?" she whispered to the demon. Off to the side, Inuyasha and Kouga tensed, ready to jump in and save her if the demon attacked.

"Kagome…it can't understand you. It's best to just kill it and let it out of its misery," Inuyasha called

_Girl…what?…hunger…eat…_

"Shh Inuyasha, can't you hear it? It's hungry." Kagome said quietly, before diverting her attention back to the demon. "I could get you something…"She dropped Kouga's sword off to the side. The panther-demon stopped and stared.

_Girl…hear…help?…food?…_

"Kagome! It's dangerous! Don't throw the sword away! Of course we can't hear it! It's a lesser demon, not humanoid enough to speak."

Kagome ignored Kouga and Inuyasha's protests and focused on the panther-demon. "Yes, I can hear you, and help you. I'm sorry about your eye." she said, holding her hands out in a placating gesture.

Suddenly realization rushed into her head in the form of an opportune memory, _Ahhh, the Sacred Jewel!_ The centipede-demon-woman had said when Kagome had first fallen own the well. Then there had been the purple light, supposedly coming from the "Sacred Jewel," that had disintegrated the demon after she tried to touch Kagome. _This Sacred Jewel thing…. Is it letting me speak to the demon?_

Slowly, Kagome approached the starving panther, keeping her hands out to show she had nothing to attack with. The demon growled and remained crouched and wary, but she looked curious too. Even crouched, the demon was easily a foot taller than her, at full height it must be close to seven feet tall. Despite the demon's frightening size, an instinct was urging Kagome to go up to the demon's head and place her palms by the eye that Kagome had ruined. The demon flinched back at first, but Kagome soothed her with soft words and put the lightest of touches around the fur matted with blood.

She closed her eyes, tapping into a reserve of power she hadn't known she had. As she began to release a slow, steady stream a soft purple aura began to glow around her, channeling into the panther's eye. The panther relaxed and leaned into Kagome's touch as the power began to gently rearrange the parts of the eye, knitting ruined flesh back together and restoring function. As the eyelid slowly repaired itself, the panther-demon's eye began to move sluggishly, reacquainting itself with its own movements and capabilities. When all once-ruined flesh was repaired, Kagome shut away her reserve of power once again, noting that the healing had barely made a dent in it.

The panther and Kagome opened their eyes at the exact same time, beautiful, clear gold meeting deep, rich blue1. The panther purred and nuzzled Kagome's face in thanks, giving her a rough lick from chin to forehead.

_Thank…food?…hunger…_

"Yeah, we'll get you some food," Kagome laughed, realizing that Kouga and Inuyasha were right behind her, pestering her with questions. There was a distant longing in Inuyasha's eyes, like nothing she'd ever seen from him before. Kouga was just amazed and kept saying what an asset she would be in battle.

*Inuyasha*

That had been the aura of the Sacred Jewel. He could feel it like he had before he was sealed to the tree. That which would have made him full demon, immortal, powerful. Now in _Kagome_. He couldn't kill her to get it. Well, he could, but it would haunt him the rest of his immortal, powerful years. It was better just to wait it out and see what happened. Maybe eventually he could get it.

Kagome was now talking to her new friend, the panther-demon, now dubbed Absol2, apparently a name from a game she played back when she was in the future. Absol's forest had been destroyed by humans, and she had been wandering the forest by Kouga's temporary hideout for a month or so. However, all the wildlife had ran from her and she had been slowly starving to death. She'd had a will for vengeance, but Kagome showed her that not all humans were bad.

The Sacred Jewel. He'd waited so long in vain, but now he had another chance. Thank the gods above.

*Kagome*

Absol wasn't originally bad. She had loved the humans in the small village besides her mountain forest like they were her family, warning them of fires in the forest, storms approaching over the mountains, earthquakes that she knew would come after she felt the earth shifting. However, the humans hadn't understood the deep connection a bound demon feels with the place it's bound to.

They had ruthlessly cut down trees for their buildings, burned huge parts of the forest to grow crops, diverted the life-giving river to water these same crops, and slowly killed Absol. At first she had protested, keeping the people from destroying her home and self, but they found ways around her, all the while reassuring her that it would grow back after they were done with it. It wouldn't have. Trees take about 10 years to grow to maturity, and the river had run through the core of the forest where trees would have grown, feeding them and bringing them nutrients from the high mountains where no trees could grow. The river was gone, running through empty sectors of forest to feed crops.

Eventually, Absol had lost the strength to fight as her forest was destroyed. She was finally forced to sever the connection to her forest, something bound demons almost never did, for it ended in an empty, deranged mind, and a permanent loss of home. With time, the dementia over losing a huge part of yourself could be healed, but never fixed, and demons typically travel the world in a kind of haze.

Absol was strong. She had endured most of herself being killed off and discarded like trash, and was back in full force with a desire to help the humans understand, instead of a desire to kill them off. Kagome was in awe of her. Not only strength of mind, but of body. When properly fed and washed, Absol was a sleek black creature with silky fur and huge, sharp claws and pearly fangs.

"Hey Absol, you know how you want to help people understand? You could travel with us, and, you know, at any village we found, we could try and teach them. I don't think these humans are very educated about demons, and most demons probably aren't that educated about humans." Kagome proposed.

_Demons…look down…humans…humans…fear…demons…teach?...respect?_

"Yeah. I suppose we would have to teach them to respect each other."

_Absol…go…teach respect…_

"Sure Absol! We'd love to have you with us!" Kagome looked over to Inuyasha, who was currently ignoring a pestering Kouga. "Boys! Absol's going to join us as we travel."

"That thing's coming?" Kouga complained.

"Sure, don't care," Inuyasha said distractedly.

* * *

Later that night, Kouga's pack had hesitantly accepted the new additions to their traveling group and was setting off to their usual home. Inuyasha had come out of his thought-haze and was complaining about the stink of "stupid wolves". Absol was just happy to play with the forest animals and surprise the pack by jumping off a tree down onto the ground in front of them with a smash and a roar. You would think that after a few hundred times, that would get old, but the pack still reacted with the same panicked reactions and Absol still laughed uproariously in Kagome's head. And Inuyasha was still complaining about the smell.

This journey might actually be…horrible.

* * *

1: I've decided to go with the manga appearance (even though I've never read it) in which Kagome's eyes are blue, because the manga _is_ the original

2: Pokémon #359 Absol: Disaster Pokémon

"It appears from deep in the mountains to warn people about upcoming disasters it has sensed with its horn." -Pokémon Black 2 National Pokédex

X3 I'm such a nerd. I just thought that it kind of fit (except for the horn part), you know, because Absol was nice to the humans before they destroyed her forest. And I wanted to make a Pokémon reference.

Oh, and I don't own Pokémon btw.

* * *

(comment response thingy)

Bad speller: Why thank you *bows*. I do appreciate the praise. And the epicness.

Megan: *gasp* is that you? I do believe you have reviewed before! Wow the first chapter huh, it was so short. But interesting I guess, and flashbacky.

Guest: And…here is your update! Wow, it's been over a month. What _have_ I been doing? (video games *whispers guiltily* they steal your life)

**AN: **I would love it if you would perchance, follow? Fave? Review? Just a suggestion though…;)


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